Geology and Significance of Hydrocarbon Discoveries in the Malaysian Side of Straits of Melaka, Offshore Kedah

Straits of Melaka (SoM) between Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra, represents the northeastern ramp margin of prolific hydrocarbon producing North Sumatra Basin. SoM is considered as under-explored; there are only six wells drilled since the first wildcats drilled in 1972. Very limited poor quality data 2D seismic data are available without navigation, lead to a poor understanding of the area. This could be the reasons why SoM has been “forgotten” for almost a decade. PETRONAS has decided to revisit and assess the hydrocarbon accumulation potential of SoM by acquiring more subsurface geological and petrophysical data, enabling further evaluation of the petroleum systems and identification of new play types. Recently acquired 2D seismic and three wells drilled in 2014, namely SONGKET-1, KEBAYA-1, and SELENDANG-1 resulted in gas/condensate discoveries. This paper discusses on the gas discoveries in recently drilled wells within the PM 320 open block and other identified potential targets identified from sequence stratigraphic study, paleoenvironment mapping and chronostratigraphic correlation. The database consists of well data, seismic data, biostratigraphic and geochemical reports. The revised paleoenvironment map and chronostratigraphic chart have provided significant reference in terms of sediment source deposition, reservoir distribution and other petroleum system element to further de-risk the other potential prospects.